Pipe protector



J. WHITE PIPE PROTECTOR Jan. 15, 1935.

Original Filed March 29, 1955 /NVENTQR J05/5Pf/ M//f//r ZTTOR'NEY Patented Jan. 15, 1935 PATENT OFFICE PIPE mo'rEo'ron i Joseph White, New York, N. Y., assigner of onethirdto John OMara., Jackson Heights, Long Island, N.- Y.

. Application March 29, 1933, Serial No. 663,257

Renewed June 12, 1934 4 Claims; (Cl. 22S-40) l `This invention relates to coolers for fluids and is of particular utility when embodied in the con,

struction of av cooler of the so-called rotary type, adapted to be inter-connected with abeer- 5f keg or the like by suitable piping, through which the beer or other fluid from the keg passes to and through al suitable ice-packed coil of the piping disposed at the bottom of the cooler, whence the cooleduid may be dispensed through a faucet mounted on the side of the cooler and connected to the other end of the piping.

In a conventional formV of such cooler, which is desirably simple in construction and inexpensive to make, the ice-packed cooling coil comprises a section of tin piping formed into a volutercoil and lies at the bottom of a cylindrical container for the ice'which is introduced to the container at the top thereof, and is then packed down upon the coil by any convenient tamping f implement, often a baseball bat, as such coolers are much used at amusement parks, and subject to rough handling. y

This results frequently in damaging those parts of the tlnpipe `which are most exposed, viz., the risers from the ends of the coil, which are led upward in positions to be surrounded by the broken ice, so as to utilize as much cooling surface as possible, and are bent outward, in a curve of short radius, to direct their terminals toward the walls of the container, being usually coupled by suitable union fittings to short sections of stiller pipe which are led out through the container walls, to receive the dispensing faucet or the conventional flexible metal conduit connecting the cooler with the keg.

My present invention contemplates the provision of a sturdy and inexpensive protector of stiff metal for each of these curved portions of the tin pipe, preferably taking the form of compact elbows which are desirably formed as unitary parts of the nozzle member of each union coupling, and are of such open structure preferably that the portions of tin pipe contained and protected by them are exposed to the cooling action of the ice without exposure to the tamping implement.

The above, and other, features of the invention, are illustrated and described fully in the accompanying drawing and specication, and are pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a view in vertical section of a cooler, showing in elevation a cooling coil provided wth protecting devices in the construction of which the invention has been embodied,

` Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, detail View in plan," upon a larger scalashowing one of the protecting devices in assembled position with associated parts of the cooling pipes,v f

Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section on the line 3-3-01. Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4` is a viewAV in front elevation of the parts shown in Figs. 2 and 3.-

In a now-preferred form of the invention, se'-v lected for illustration and description, the part designated generally by the reference character 5is a cooler of conventional form, comprising a cylindrical sheet metal container having an open top provided with a cover 6, and in the bottom of whichis disposed a volute coil? of block tin pipe, from which extend upwardly end-risers 8', 8, suitable position to be surrounded by ice 9,introduced at the top and packed down by any suitable tainping implement. t v

These parts can be, and preferably are', of con-r ventional form, as are also the-short outlet pipes 10 and 11, made of brass and secured in the walls of thecontainer by nuts I2 screwed ,upon threaded portions of theshort pipes. In the instance illustrated, the pipe or nipple l0 is connected with a length of flexible conduit 13 leading from a, suitable source of supply (not shown) of the fluid to be cooled, and the pipe or nipple 11 is provided with a dispensing faucet 14, and if desired the part 15 of the latter may be inter-connected in a 30 cooling circuit with the fluid source, by a conduit similar to the conduit 13, in well-known fashion, and which does not require illustration.

In pursuance of the invention I have provided protector devices 16 in the form of elbows made 35 of suitable stiff material, such as brass, and each having a channel 1'7 adapted to receive the conventional curved portion 18 of one of the coil-endrisers 8, which is shown as being of short radius, as is customary, although this is not essential to the invention.

In further pursuance of the invention, each elbow has shoulders 19, projecting sufficiently far above the pipe curve 18 to prevent access thereto 45 of the tamping implement when the ice is being packed, but the space between these shoulders 19 is preferably left open, according to a valuable feature of the invention, to expose the curved portions 18 of the pipe to the cooling action of the 50 surrounding ice.

The protector elbows 16 may be supported by any suitable means, and as a now-preferred form of such support I have shown each elbow as forming a unitary structure with a member of each 55 For this purpose I have shown short union pipe members or nipples 20 sweated or otherwise suitably connected tightly with each protector elbow 16, as at 21, the other end of each nipple having a shoulder 22 cooperating in well-known fashion with a similar interior shoulder 23 upon a loose union-coupling member 24 which is interiorly threaded to screw on the inner threaded end of the outlet pipe 10, or the outlet pipe 11, as the case may be, or upon any pipe to which the pipe 8 may be desirably connected.

It will thus be understood that the protector members 16, 20 and 24 constitute cooperating parts of a unitary fitting which may be made and sold as such for convenient application to existing cooler structures of the class illustrated or of any suitable construction, as it is only necessary to slip the terminal portion 28 ofthe pipe 8 through this tting, and then upset the tin-pipe end as at 27 so as to form a shoulder to be clamped between the shoulder 22 of the member 24 and the end of the short pipe member 10 or 11 to which the tting is eventually connected.

It will be noted that this application of such a iltting to a pipe 8 can be accomplished either before or after the bend 18 has been made, which not only facilitates the application of the device to existing coolers, but also makes it possible to utilize the ttings of my novel protective form with pipes in a widely varying range of applications, and it is to be understood that I claim such a ting generically, with a view to its embodiment in such modified forms as may occur to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a cooler comprising a container provided with a pipe made of relatively soft metal formed `into a coil disposed in said container, leaving space for ice thereabout, at least one end of said pipe being extended upwardly within said container and then bent toward a wall thereof, and a protector elbow made of harder metal and having a channel to receive said bent pipe portion, said elbow having shoulders adapted to prevent access to said bent pipe portion by an ice-tamping implement, said elbow shoulders extending beyond the periphery of said bent pipe portion and being spaced apart to permit access of ice to said bent pipe portion.

2. As an article of manufacture, a protector e1- bow for a bent portion of a soft-metal refrigerator pipe, said elbow being formed of relatively hard metal and having a channel to receive said bend, saidelb'ow being further characterized by protective shoulders adapted to extend beyond the periphery of said bend, and spaced apart to permit access of crushed ice or similar refrigerant to said bend. 3. As an article of manufacture, a protector device of the class described, comprising a channelled metal elbow adapted to receive and protect a pipe bend, a tubular metal extension of said elbow adapted to surround a portion of said pipe extending from said bend, and a coupling device assembled loosely with the free end of said extension and adapted to connect said protector devicel and pipe to a conduit for the fluid passing through said pipe.

4. As an article of manufacture, a pipe-tting comprising a tubular member adapted to be slipped upon a pipe adjacent to a bend therein, said tubular member having at one end a protector elbow having a channel to receive said pipebend, and a bi-partite coupling at the other end of said tubular member, one part of said coupling being xed to said tubular member and having an interior shoulder adapted to serve as an abutment for an outwardly extending flange to be formed upon said pipe when the tting is applied thereto, the other part of said coupling comprising a rotatable union member tted loosely upon said other part and adapted to be screwed upon a conduitend and to cause duid-tight engagement of said conduit-end with said pipe-flange.

JOSEPH WHITE. 

